Impartial

When I wrote in the Free Press last week: "[t]hese [design] regulations must be able to stand under the rule of law -- impartial, no matter who the builder is or which way the political winds are blowing," this is what I meant:

"And to overcome a shortage of park­ing stalls on the site, the City of Win­nipeg is insisting that Stonebridge in­corporate a car-sharing program into the development — something that has never been required before in Win­nipeg but that Stonebridge president Kurtis Sawatzky said the firm is will­ing to do."

A great idea. But it is too bad for Stonebridge that they are private and for-profit. If they were an arrogant bureaucracy going about the "public good," they could have had the City assemble enough land for them to built a giant parkade for 200 parking stalls, facing right onto River Avenue. The Planning Department could doze through the process, no public consultation would need to happen, and City council could give them $500,000 in tax credits. If only.